Photo of Caruana Galizia murder suspect’s Corvette was posted on Facebook by relative

A relative of the Degiorgio brothers, arrested for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, posted the photo of George Degiorgio’s Corvette parked inside the Marsa potato shed where they were arrested this week

The Corvette parked inside the Marsa potato shed
The Corvette parked inside the Marsa potato shed

The photo of a Corvette vehicle parked inside the ‘potato shed’ on the Marsa docks where suspected murderer George Degiorgio ‘ic-Ciniz’ was arrested this week, has surfaced on the Facebook profile of a family relative.

The photo from 2016 shows the Corvette Stringray, probably valued at some €70,000, parked inside the area formerly known as the potato shed, where it is believed Degiorgio ran his criminal enterprise.

Earlier this week George Degiorgio 'ic-Ciniz'  was charged with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia together with his brother Alfred Degiorgio ‘il-Fula’ and Vince Muscat ‘il-Kohhu’. Both the Degiorgio brothers said they were unemployed.

The photo also confirms eyewitness accounts MaltaToday gathered in Marsa, where a man who works in the area was not surprised that the police had carried out arrests in the zone.

George Degiorgio (inset) and the Marsa potato shed where the arrests were made
George Degiorgio (inset) and the Marsa potato shed where the arrests were made

“There are two warehouses back there used by drug dealers,” he whispered, indicating with his head the environs of the ex-potato shed. The area is ideal for such activity. It is a desolate place for most of the time and crucially has direct access to a quay where boats can berth and offload contraband, drugs or illegal oil.

“Every Saturday we see luxury cars – BMWs, Mercedes and Corvettes – driving in towards the warehouses,” the worker told this newspaper.

The large, rusty metal structure on the quay in the inner part of the Grand Harbour used to serve as a shed for potato exports. But this week it was the site of a massive police and army raid during which several men suspected of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder were arrested.

Intensive searches were conducted in the shed and other warehouses situated along the quay as the national and international spotlight turned to this promontory below the former Marsa power station.

On Google Street, the same shed was snapped with two men – faces blurred – seemingly chatting around the table, where the arrests were made.

Jutting out into the harbour, the quay forms part of the Menqa area in Marsa, an industrial zone that is home to numerous warehouses, decrepit buildings, offices and some residences. The area also houses the Marsa regatta club.

But for many the area is also known as a den for hardened criminals.

MaltaToday is informed that the quay in the area has often been used by vessels suspected of carrying smuggled diesel.

George Degiorgio was on his cabin cruiser outside the Grand Harbour just before 3pm on 16 October when he realised that the mobile phone from which the killer SMS was to be sent had no credit.

The second phone was the one Degiorgio used to send the fatal SMS at around 3pm which detonated the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia.
After detonating the bomb, at around 3.30pm, Degiorgio sent an SMS from his personal phone to his wife asking her to “open a bottle of wine for me, baby”.

MaltaToday reported that the fatal SMS was sent from a cabin cruiser belonging to Degiorgio, which was also captured in Monday’s police raid.

Sources close to the investigation now confirm that the killers used sophisticated electronic equipment to open Caruana Galizia’s car by bypassing the central locking system. The bomb was placed under the driver seat at around 2am on 16 October, leaving no traces of break-in.
Alfred Degiorgio, George’s brother, is believed to have acted as a spotter to track the journalist’s last movements.